


Quivering Hearts

by SerenitySparrow



Category: The Hollars (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 02:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11326509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenitySparrow/pseuds/SerenitySparrow
Summary: On the same day his mother dies and his brother's wife goes into labor, Ron Hollar meets a woman who will change his life for the better. But will he have the same affect on hers?





	Quivering Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own this movie or the characters, save for my own. I've had this story swirling around in my head since I saw the movie and decided to start posting it while waiting for inspiration for other stories I'm working on to re-strike.

Ron Hollar stood with his father Don as they stood together watching Ron's younger brother John race down the long, seemingly unending corridor that connected the ER to the maternity ward of the hospital. John's new wife Rebecca had started going into labor at their mother Sally's funeral, so they had been forced to speed away as fast as possible in the hearse that had transported Sally's casket to the cemetery.

Don clapped a hand to Ron's shoulder, startling him out of his reverie. "Your mother would have wanted this," he said, his light blue eyes glassy with unshed tears. "She wasn't too fond of overt sadness."

A hesitant smile passed over Ron's face. "No, she wasn't, was she?" He chuckled as a long forgotten memory formed in his mind's eye. "Remember how she told me to 'get over it' when I finally signed on the dotted line for the finality of my divorce?"

Don nodded with a sad snort. "Yep. Said it was your own doing, what you wanted, and you had no right to be blubbering over it at that point."

There was about a minute of silence before Ron spoke again.

"I remember once she told me that when her time was up, she would want happiness to overshadow the somberness. That she wouldn't want us dwelling on the past, but focusing on the future and those we have to share it with."

"And what did you say?"

"I told her I didn't see how a world without her in it could possibly have any happiness."

Don sniffed, wiping at his nose. "It's certainly a bit less cheery, but with the twins' arrival, we'll make it through."

Ron nodded in agreement just as a commotion sounded at the front desk. Ron and Don turned to see a heavily pregnant woman leaning against the counter for support holding herself up. She was breathing deeply as she clutched at her stomach, struggling to remain on her feet as pain flashed over her face. She requested a birthing room from the nurse, but, like John and Rebecca minutes before her, was directed to the hallway to her right.

The woman glanced down the length of the hall and then turned back to the nurse. "You expect me to walk all that..." She bent over with a soft cry as her body was wracked by a contraction. It was an agonizing one by the looks of it.

"Can't you...can't you put me in a wheelchair and..." Anoher contraction hit. "Please do something."

Spotting an empty wheelchair resting in the corner near the window, Ron quickly snatched it up and pushed it towards the woman at the desk, who appeared to be alone. When she looked at him, she sent him such a grateful smile that Ron felt a knot start to form in the back of his throat.

"Thank you," she murmured softly as she slowly lowered herself into the chair.

"Where is your husband, ma'am?" the nurse at the desk asked as she came around the desk. 

The woman's teeth grit in annoyance. "I have no husband. And I'm sure I'll have no problem wheeling myself to the other building."

"I can wheel you," Ron volunteered, shocked that such a beautiful woman was having a baby alone. He couldn't very well let her go through such a life changing event by herself.

"Oh, that's not necessary. I..."

"You shouldn't have to do this alone," Ron insisted vehemently.

Again the woman shot him a watery smile. Their eyes met fully then and Ron's heart stopped for almost a full three seconds before speeding up to an almost unnatural rhythm. There was something about those bluish/gray eyes that was hitting him with the force of a wrecking ball to the gut.

"Sir?"

Ron jerked when he realized the nurse was now standing directly in front of him, staring up at him questioningly. He gestured her out of the way and when she did so, he glanced at his dad and sent him a silent message as he started pushing the wheelchair down the hall.

"Just take deep breaths," Ron instructed the woman; it was clear that this was her first child and he had gone through this twice with Stacey. He sped up his steps when her painful gasps began to come closer together. "I'm Ron."

"Nicki," she replied, though it was almost difficult to understand her through all the heavy breathing. "I appreciate...oh geez." Her hands caressed her swollen belly affectionately as she tried speaking once more. "I appreciate you doing this." A low wail escaped her despite her attempt to hold it in.

"You obviously couldn't walk all this way in your condition," Ron explained. "And that bitch behind the counter didn't seem overly eager to help you out."

Nicki chuckled at his impassioned statement.

Ron flushed. "Pardon my French."

"Your French sounds a lot like English cursing." Nicki twisted in her seat to look up at him. "And believe me, I am definitely guilty of..." 

She suddenly bent over as a sharp arc of pain traveled through her lower abdomen. It felt like her insides were being squished in a tight vice!

Ron started running faster. "Just hold on, Nicki! We'll have you put up in a comfy room in a few minutes."

Spotting another receptionist desk just ahead, Ron nearly tripped over his own feet as he spun the wheelchair in that direction. He apologized to Nicki when she whimpered at the sudden motion, though not even a minute later they rolled to a stop.

"This woman is in labor and needs a room ASAP!" Ron rasped.

The nurse behind the desk leapt to her feet and thrust a clipboard across the countertop. She told Nicki to fill out some required information while directing another nurse to ready a room.

"Does she really have to do that right now?" Ron demanded irritably. "For god's sake, look at her! The baby is ready to come out!"

"Ron, it's..." Nicki blew out a deep breath. "It's okay. I can sign." She did so quickly and then tossed the clipboard back onto the counter.

They were guided into the nearby elevator and then lifted up to the fifth floor. As they strolled down the corridor towards the room that had been assigned to Nicki, Ron silently wondered if John and Rebecca were on the same floor.

"Are you the father?" the nurse asked as Ron pushed the wheelchair into the room.

"Uh..." Releasing the handles of the chair, Ron scratched anxiously at the back of his neck. "I'm a friend."

"Do you have any family?" one of the nurses asked Nicki as they guided her towards the bed and started to remove her clothes. 

Ron awkwardly turned to face the door.

"Not here," Nicki replied, grunting as she stepped out of her white sundress dotted with red cherries. "My mom was..." She gasped as another contraction hit. "...supposed to be here, but things came up."

Ron wondered silently about the baby's father and why he wasn't present. He knew it wasn't any of his business, but he also couldn't stand the likelihood that Nicki had been left to raise her child alone. Men who didn't accept their responsibilities made him physically sick, especially those who abandoned their own children.

Maybe Ron was a bit over-sensitive in this regard. He adored his own daughters and hadn't been able to spend as much time with them as he would like since the divorce. It killed him not to be a part of their lives and interact with them every day. He simply couldn't understand how anyone would 'not' want to know he little lives they helped create.

Ron's attention was pulled back to the present as Nicki was eased into the hospital bed by two nurses. He hesitated momentarily before turning around and walking to where she lay. Something in his chest constricted when she stared up at him with those wide, guileless blue-gray eyes.

"Thank you for helping me to my room," she whispered.

"You kicking me out?" Ron asked with a half-smile.

Nicki flushed in embarrassment. "Not at all. Just...I know you have your own family to get back to." She gestured to the black tux he still wore. "You probably don't want to be in some stranger's birthing room, especially dressed in an expensive tux."

Ron waved off the comment. "It's no bother, really. I can stay if you'd like. Nobody should have to have a baby by herself."

Tears pricked at Nicki's eyes and she silently nodded. 

Ron nodded back, smiled encouragingly, and took his place at her left-hand side, grasping her hand just as she shot up and started bearing down.

"Looks like the baby's coming now!" the main nurse declared loudly, as though those in the room couldn't very well see that. Or in Nicki's case, feel that.

Ron's heart pounded as he stood by and waited to hear that familiar squawking sound of a baby's wailing cry. Surprisingly, he didn't have long to wait. Nicki must have been in labor for hours before reaching the hospital. After only thirty more minutes, give or take, a bloody little wriggling mass was being carried over to the sink for a rinse off.

Nicki collapsed backwards, still panting with exertion. As the baby was being cleaned, she turned her head back to Ron and smiled tiredly.

"Thank you." She pushed herself up with what little energy remained and grabbed him by his black tie to press a soft, chaste kiss to his mouth.

Ron cleared his throat awkwardly as Nicki fell back into the pillows, waiting patiently for the chance to hold her son. His heart was pounding yet again and now his palms had grown clammy. He hadn't felt this disoriented since his first date with Stacey. 

 

"Where's Ron?" John asked Don as he, Becca, and Don himself huddled around the twins who'd been named Sam and Sally, after the boys' recently deceased mother. John gently guided his new wife back to the bed, insisting that it wasn't good for her to be walking about so soon.

"He assisted a lone pregnant woman to her room," Don replied while he cooed softly at his granddaughter. "I guess he's still in with her."

John's eyebrows furrowed. "A pregnant woman came here alone?"

"It appeared that way. She needed some help, so your brother helped."

The door suddenly burst open and Ron stumbled into the room, hair eschew and suit disheveled. "Sorry," he apologized. "Sorry I'm late."

"Is the girl all right?" Don asked.

"Woman," Ron instantly corrected. "And she's fine. Had a healthy baby boy, six pounds, five ounces." Ron smiled as though the child was his own.

He strolled across the room to greet his new niece and nephew. "John, your children are beautiful." He winked at Becca. "They obviously take after their mother."

Becca blushed endearingly and voiced the curiosity plaguing her now. "So who was this woman, Ron? What's her story?"

Stepping away from the plastic bassinet, Ron casually shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know the whole story. Her mom was supposed to be in town for the delivery, but something came up at the last minute. I assume something critical if it meant missing the birth of a grandchild."

"There's no father?" Becca arranged the pillows behind her as she sat up. Sam was squalling in hunger and she needed to get comfortable.

"Biologically, yes, but it seems he wants nothing to do with his own baby." Ron's left hand clenched into a fist. "Who doesn't want to be a part of their child's life, man?"

"No one worth anything," John agreed, doing what he could to help Becca. "Are you going to see her again?"

"Yea. Already promised I'd be back in the morning."

As Becca settled in with Sam against her breast, struggling to locate her nipple, John gathered up Sally and rocked her in his arms. 

John looked up and smiled brightly at everyone in the room. Hell, at the room itself. "It's been a hell of a day, hasn't it?"

Ron let out a soft chuckle. "One only Mom herself could have planned."

 


End file.
